Woman is convicted of causing 2 deaths by stopping for ducklings on highway, faces maximum of life

A jury in Montreal convicted a Canadian woman on Friday of causing two deaths when she stopped her car in a highway traffic lane in 2010 to rescue a family of half a dozen ducklings.

Although Emma Czornobaj, 25, lacked criminal intent, she nonetheless faces a maximum life prison term for the two counts of criminal negligence involving death, the Montreal Gazette reports.

A motorcyclist and his 16-year-old daughter, who was his passenger, were both killed when they slammed into the back of Czornobaj’s car.

Her lawyer, Marc Labelle, said she may ask the Quebec Court of Appeal to reconsider standard jury instructions trial judges must give in such cases.

“Here we have a situation where the act was considered dangerous by the jury—that’s obvious,” he told the newspaper. “But there was no ill will at all—no alcohol, no speeding, no race. In a case like this, the instructions that the judge gave are a little bit unjust for a citizen in this situation.”